Excell BBQ

Doesn't look like much huh?

When you are going to try barbecue and you can smell it when you enter the general area and the whole neighborhood is smoky like this:

You, my friend are in the right place.

In fact this little building is where they actually Hickory smoke their barbecue.

We walk in and there is a notebook paper sign pointing the way to "Order BBQ." It was precious, I must say. The outside was just a store, nothing special. But our research and development department (Ahem, the husband) found this nifty joint last weekend so we had to try it.

Now keep in mind during this review that I am an Eastern N.C. girl, therefore I'm an Eastern NC BBQ fan. As is the research and development department. In fact one of the first questions he asks someone that he meets is "What's your barbecue like?" So, I must admit that the standards for BBQ are set pretty high.

There are three things on the menu at Excell. Barbecue, Whole Chickens and Slabs O' Meat Ribs.

I went with the Barbecue Sandwich and DH went with the Barbecue Plate.

It was a teeny bit salty for my taste, but it was just about the freshest most tender pork I've ever had. Usually I'm a barbecue and slaw sandwich kind of girl, but this did not need any slaw. It had a few flavors that were different, but not bad different. There was no vinegar to be found, but it was ok without it. We believe we taste a bit of paprika, and it was a bit spicy, so I'm thinking it was smoked paprika.

It was in no way dry, which really surprised me. I thought that without the vinegar it was going to be dry and chewy, but this was not the case.

Overall, I liked it. I missed my Eastern NC BBQ, but it definately took care of my pork craving. I would have been ecstatic if they had eased off the salt a bit, but it wasn't enough to completely turn me off.

We finished off with a My Oh My Fried Pie Peach Turnover Fried Pie.

Research and Development's opinion on this treat was "This is FREAKIN' AWESOME!"

It was really tasty! It was something like a Peach filled Krispie Kreme Doughnut. It should have been too sweet (especially for me), but somehow it was not. It had just the right balance of sweet.

In conclusion!

For a hole in the wall place it is definately our Clarksville, TN place for BBQ even the Fort Campbell Courier thinks so! 

Rollin' on the meatballs

So I hear folks complaining alot about having to "roll out the meatballs."
I also hear people talking about how annoying it is to roll out meatballs and as a result only buy the frozen ones.
I'm not a fan of frozen prepared meat. It never tastes just so to me. Only exception would be the super cheap turkey pot pies...those I do like, the sodium however I don't.
Anywho, I do not mind rolling out meatballs, plus they are so much better than frozen that it's worth the extra hassle.
I sort of follow recipe's, but mostly I'll take a look at several recipes and mix them all together and come up with something else all together.
Here's how I do my meatballs.

1 pound of ground meat (this time I used beef but anything is fine. Also I used a 70-30 mixture, they can hold up to simmering in sauce all day.)
6 tablespoons of green onions (don't leave this out)
3 tablespoons of bread crumbs (I like the italian kind)
3 tables spoons of Parm cheese (for this one I like the el cheapo kind the best because it's the same consistency pretty much as the bread crumbs.)

I heart onions!

I make little tiny meatballs. Just smush everything into the meat, don't leave anything in the bowl, especially those delicious onions!

Aren't they cute?!

Cook them for around 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

MMMMM!

Go ahead and take them off the pan and stick them on a paper towel lined plate. There's a bit of grease in the bottom of that pan and you don't want to eat that.

Now, do whatever you like with these delicious meatballs...

Mine went into those simple tomato and herb sauce along with that eggplant that's sauteeing in the background.

What are you burning wife?

Is N.O.T. an appropriate greeting, just for future reference.
Today I ventured way further than I was prepared for.
BUT, I will only tell you about the good part :)

Today was a homemade Apple Pie!
Description in five words or less: Exhausting but worth it!

Don't forget to go ahead and add the lemon juice and sugar as your peeling!

See how it thickens up so beautifully!

*The recipe called for you 8 or 9 minutes, I did a little less. I liked the apples a little firmer than mushy*

Yes, that's an ice cream scoop in the Crisco...don't hate!

Recipe called for you to get this grainy consistency with "pea-size bits of butter" and not to wait until it's a dough ball.

*I must tell you, next time I might try a different kind of dough all together. This was a little more bread-like than I think it should have been. It was good, but I was expecting more flaky and pastry consistency.*

Sticky sticky! Have lots of flour at the ready. This was very thick! It took some serious mushin' and squishin' to get it in the pie dish.

Don't ask how long it took to clean my tiny kitchen after this.

AHHH, golden brownness!

*See what I mean about the bread-yness of the crust?

No one was slapped in the tasting of this, but it was close.

It was good. I would love to try this with a combination of Gala apples and a nice tart green apple of some variety. This dough would be great on something, just not this I don't think. It was good together, but I think that with a flaky crust this would be outstanding!